Osteoarthritis is the number one cause of pain and disability in America.  One of every two seniors will have arthritis of their knees.  Last year nearly three quarters of a million patients had hip and knee replacements and many of those artificial joints will need to be replaced again.

Dr. Lou Pack, who practices at MCG here at Greensboro, has just announced the release of his new book, The Arthritis Revolution, Latest Research on Staying Active Without Pain Medication or Surgery at this week’s Rotary Club meeting.  Based on over 40 years of clinical experience in treating thousands of patients with arthritis and five years of research, his book dispels the long standing myth that osteoarthritis is due to age and weight.   According to Dr. Pack, “while certainly factors, they are not the primary causes.”   

In very logical, simple terms his book presents his arguments and backs his theory with data from credible institutions like the famed Mayo Clinic.  Numerous before and after pictures show the dramatic improvements he has been able to produce.  Testimonials from some of the greatest athletes in the world also add great credibility to his work.   

Pack reasons, “If age is the primary cause of osteoarthritis, why do many people have just one knee or hip involved; is their other one any younger?”  He adds, “And why if that knee or hip is replaced with a new one that is stronger than the one we were born with, does it too need replacing?”  Pack says, “That’s because putting a new tire on a car with a bent frame doesn’t fix the frame. “   Apparently one of the major complications of joint replacement surgery is ending up with a leg that is even longer or shorter than before surgery.  That is because the size implant that fits best is the one that is used and that replacement is usually not exactly the same size as the joint that was removed.  This causes additional stress on the replaced joint as well as on the joints on the other side.

The good doctor says that the same is true regarding weight.  “There are many people who are significantly overweight who have no joint pain while some much thinner do.”  He also points out that those who are overweight and do have knee or hip pain often have only one joint that hurts.  And if they do have pain in both knees or hips, almost always one started first or is more severe.  “Are these people carrying less weight on the side that doesn’t hurt?”   He quickly adds that weight is of course a factor but that as with age, it is secondary to poor alignment as a causative factor.  Dr. Pack says that this is likened to carrying a backpack.  “You may be able to carry 50 pounds that is well balanced but see how far you get with a 20 pound dumbbell on one side.”

Dr. Pack did not write his book in the traditional fashion by doing research first.  “I wrote this book based on my many years of clinical experience.  I know what works and what doesn’t.”  He then did a great deal of research to see if he could find credible data to support his work.  “I was pleased to see the wealth of data that supported my premise and methods of correction.”  He says that these researchers simply didn’t know how to implement what they found.  Pack then traveled and scheduled face to face meetings with some of the foremost authorities in the world.  “I found that they too, agreed with my premise but again, did not understand what to do with this information.”

Although a Founding Fellow of the American College of Rheumatology, Dr. Pack is not a rheumatologist but a foot specialist.  He says that he “finds the structural problems we all have like a longer leg or flattened foot and corrects these problems to decrease foot and ankle issues.”  But he has found over the years that by doing this he can often dramatically decrease pain in the other weight-bearing joints of the knees, hips, back and neck.  

Dr. Pack has used these very same principles to decrease injuries as well as increase sports performance at any age.  Indeed, he has a 50 year old man, Roald Bradstock, who has just qualified for the Olympic Trials in the javelin.  He is the oldest man in history to do so, not in the senior category but in any age group.  Pack says he has an 82 year old man who can still ski black diamond slopes with his grandchildren and says he turns better now than when he was 17.  Pack has eight world record holders in different sports as well as Olympic gold medalists he has worked with.

His passion is quite evident.  “I wrote The Arthritis Revolution to change the thinking in medicine.  This will in turn change how people are treated.  Too many of your friends and mine suffer needlessly.  Osteoarthritis of our weight-bearing joints is to a large extent preventable.”

You can find Dr. Pack’s book, The Arthritis Revolution, on LuLu.com or on Amazon.com.  It is also available at his office at MCG across from Publix in Greensboro.  For further information you can contact him at (706) 454-0040 or see his website at www.drloupack.com.